byler brainrot @yeahireallydo - Tumblr Blog

how conformitygate got me feeling one day out from jan 7th

#byler #conformitygate #it is canon in my heart

ive aways thought that recurring use of the word “ghost” in the show was odd. its a word that doesn’t seem to fit for it come out in dialogue as often as it does.

(and this isnt everything, references to ghosts appear in s1 and s2)

max also says to vecna, “you’re not really here.”

and… what if he isn’t. at least, he's not really in the material plane. vecna is a master of lies and secrets. so is it a stretch to say that his only power is controlling people through the lies/secrets they are keeping?

When I first saw mike say this:

i got a super weird feeling. like it was too much, too laden with significance to just be thrown in here. like it was begging to be looked at a second time. mike's been sitting there with some henry ass smiles on his face, roleplaying a vampire, a term which the party has already used to refer to vecna, saying to will, paraphrased, “I’ve got the rest of your friends”?

and i puzzled over how it could be that will is the only one free of vecna right now, but then i remembered that awful coming out scene. it could be that this scene HAD to be here, to explain from a plot perspective how will could be free from vecna’s influence. he’s already released his lies and secrets.

even nancy said to jonathan, after they confessed to each other, which helped but didn’t fully save them, “Got any more confessions?”

and i think it's likely that all of the characters do have more confessions, more processing of their trauma that they need to do in order to sever vecna’s ties to them.

[and anyway, maybe all they need to do in the real world is go to the creel house and destroy that grandfather clock. vecna's a lich, so ive always thought that his soul was in that damn clock]

#byler #conformitygate #honestly im here for the theorizing #until jan 7th

another reason i know this ending has to be fake is that mike somehow made it out of this entire series without getting more than a little scratch?

when the mind flayer has known who his ass was way back in s2? when the rest of the wheeler family has been ruthlessly targeted? everyone else, even ted (!) ends up in the hospital, but mike gets off scot-free? the leader of the core four? the heart of the party? the only character who is important to both Will and El? Will and El, who are prime obsessions of Henry's? no. no way. its not adding up for me.

#conformitygate #byler

[piggybacking off of my own post]

This screencap is haunting me.

because ok, we have door number one above Mike, and that’s the one I’m dubbing the “take your own life” door.

There are red traffic lights above it, obviously signaling a problem, which is also confirmed by the text in the radio tower manual:

and door number two, the one above Hopper, is the “accept your fate” door. There are yellow lights, frozen in time.

If you take this door, you end up in a time loop. That could be confirmed by Max’s experience. She took door number two; she stayed in a loop of Henry’s memories.

What I fear is… Mike hasn’t even taken door number two. He’s about to take door number one.

Right after this conversation with Hopper, we cut to the graduation scene. at the end of the graduation scene, we hear an Iron Maiden song. It’s called The Trooper, and the lyrics we specifically hear are:

The bugle sounds, the charge begins But on this battlefield, no one wins The smell of acrid smoke and horse's breath As I plunge on into certain death

As I plunge on into certain death.

Mike has picked, or is going to pick, certain death (metaphorical death, at the very least). as hopper says “you keep going over it and over it in your head, what you could've done differently.”

How else should we understand Mike’s ending? When Will asks what happens to the storyteller, Mike says, “the storyteller keeps telling stories.” In other words…. door number one. He keeps going back over what happened, over and over again, in his stories.

If we continue The Matrix analogy, it’s not as if taking the red pill alone guarantees you success. You can still die/lose even once you're outside of the matrix.

But... you have to at least know that you ARE in a dream world before you can either accept your fate or look for an exit.

What I am proposing, is that right now, Mike is Neo before he ever encounters Morpheus. The choice is still in front of him.

(and I know some of us have not forgotten the white rabbit song from S1. in the matrix, the white rabbit is what leads Neo to begin to question his reality. What will Mike’s white rabbit be? I’m not sure. Maybe it's Will, maybe it's Max (the mad hatter), maybe it's El or maybe it's something else entirely. But it also fits into the extremely obvious, very in-your-face Alice in Wonderland references this season.)

and honestly, even if this doesn't happen, wow. tying back to a song released in the first season? that would be something.

#truly crazy together i fear #conformitygate #byler #mike wake up

ok time to make a contribution to conformity gate. Here are a couple of things I have not seen anyone mention yet.

One is this stupid ship. This stupid fucking ship.

WHY is it in Hop’s cabin, pointing to the right ->

AND also somehow in Mike’s basement, but pointing to the left <- There is something rattling around in my head about how Will keeps saying he’s a vessel, the party is on a curiosity voyage, etc. etc.

but also.

The Matrix was listed as an inspiration, right?

The choice that allows you to break out of the Matrix is on the left.

Also, Hopper’s conversation with epilogue Mike was very... strange. He tells Mike that he has 2 choices. He can wallow and waste his life away essentially, or he can accept what happened. And oddly, they each look two different directions as these choices are mentioned. Like, really notably.

When Hopper is finished speaking, the traffic lights behind him turn from green to yellow, and then stay there. Frozen for an additional, uncanny second. You don't see them turn red before the scene changes.

But what I really want to focus on is how this was very reminiscent of another conversation we’ve already heard, with one major difference.

Max says that are three options. Take your own life. Accept your fate. Escape.

If this is Henry’s nightmare, of course he would never offer escape as an option. He’s essentially (via Hopper) offering the first two, modified: Take your own life (kill yourself with regret, misery, etc.) or accept your fate.

And Max, who is so resilient, what did she do?

Mike Wheeler’s nightmare epilogue (which is his literal worst-case scenario — being left behind, alone, no one needing him) is him taking his own door number two.

But Will, who other people have cleverly pointed out has been depicted with a glowing red ‘Exit’ sign… Will is the way he escapes.

i fear i am actually red-pilled on conformitygate, please send help

#byler #conformitygate #crazy together one last time #january 7th or bust

anohmaliie

mike fell first and harder (no one will agree haha)

#byler nation stand up

boycattj

will the wise 2.0 + will has powers au ??

time: 17h51m

close ups + backstory :p >

just a preface - do not b mistaken ! this is not an in-game dnd design, but a costume 4 the campaign

in my head, this is post-apocalypse, the party hasn't been able 2 play dnd for nearly a year + a half (cuz. yknow. the world was ending + they were a lil busy), but now everything is finally over For Good and they decide 2 go all out for their first campaign back together again. im talking like, at least a 4-5 months of planning + preparation. (mike is the dm)

they all make their own costumes, some choosing to share w and get help from the others, others choosing to do it all on their own and keep it a surprise, and mike makes props + stuff for the more prevalent npc's. they even decorate(?) the basement for the proper ~vibes~. basically its sick asf and every1 is fuckin Stoked by the time the first session comes around.

will is one of the ones who chooses 2 keep it a surprise - w the exception of his mom (2 help sew) + el (under a Very strict promise 2 not tell Any1, lest the surprise b ruined) .

design notes >

the eye make-up was borrowed from el

the gold in his hair is coloured hairspray/paint/smth idk yet i havent really decided

the gold on the boots + staff is hand painted

the pants were dyed the dark purple

the inside of the cape is the same sheer purple w stars fabric as the shirt

the staff thing is a real stick (like. its not foam or anything) + somehow willel shape it that way w her/their powers or spend an entire day in the woods looking 4 the right one or something, idk i havent fully fleshed out that part

the rings, bracelets + the moon on the staff r real metal so will's lightning/electricity is attracted 2 them (done for the vibes cuz jt looks fuckin cool)

every other moon/star is either foam or fabric

the stars on the pants r stitched on, but the ones on the cape r glued on

u cant see it in these, but the cape attaches to the collar in the middle like how it does in the frontline

his powers notes >

big fan of flickergate, so i Had 2 make his powers b electricity/lightning centered

took inspo from the 'the heart' poster(?) and made it blue

he has telekinesis as well, but its not as strong as el's

u can see the blue lightning in his eyes when he uses his powers

he gets nosebleeds less frequently than el

instead, when overworked, his fingertips essentially get fried/burned (sometimes his entire hands if he pushes too far)

discovery of his powers follows the flickergate theory of byler kiss in the upside down makes the lights flicker but also i think he shocks mike or makes his hair staticky or smth and when they pull away theres blue lightning dancing on his fingertips

once his powers r 'unlocked' so 2 speak, he starts unconsciously using them when feeling strong emotions (flickering lights, tv/radios/other electrical appliances turning on/off, shocking someone/thing and in much less common, more serious cases, blowing fuses and lightbulbs, lightening-shaped burns on whatever he's touching, completely frying electrical appliances, etc)

byler centric notes >

will helped mike sometimes w making the campaign + the prop-making (think whole days spent brainstorming ideas while mike writes the outline and will sketches the designs)

mike constantly pesters him abt showing him his costume but will holds his ground abt keeping it a secret so he only gets glimpses of scrap fabrics + foam on will's desk/floor when he comes over

ergo, he promptly loses his mind when he finally sees it and needs like. five minutes 2 fix his broken brain (which the party does tease him abt, of course)

and hey, if mikes hair/clothes r staticky when they come back from a mid-session break, u cant prove anything

ok .. i think i need 2 write a fic w will having powers now lol . this got outta hand

#the design the colors im—#byler #will the wise

bylertruther

"But you make [me] feel like [I'm] not a mistake at all, like [I'm] better for being different, and that gives [me] the courage to fight on."

#i mis the dnd byler posts #this is perfect #byler

7385928176385960-deactivated202

when i was a young girl !! when i was younger !!

#ok im dying #elmax my beloved

starsarefire824

Something to cheer my dear @perexcri up. The Paladin and The Cleric 🥀

The flowers I chose are poppies and nightshade. Poppies symbolize undying love and sacrifice and in the bible they represented the blood of christ and resurrection. Nightshade traditionally symbolize silence. Both have historically had connotations with death which I think is fitting with Vecna.

*click for quality

#byler #byler fanart #absolutely beautiful